Battery grid trimming machine



H. C. WINKEL BATTERY GRID TRIMMING MACHINE May 19, 1953 Original FiledJune 24, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1953 H. c. WINKEL BATTERY GRID TRIMMINGMACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 24, 1946 jmw wzzwz May 19,1953 H. c. WINKEL BATTERY GRID TRIMMING MACHINE Original Filed June 24,1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 f/yaf 7 llllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllll"quantit es in It 'por'ti'bn of th; molten Patented May 19, 1953parat'us whic h a,

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xner hg s; a grid supportipg faqe. {4 inqlinqd downwardly and awayfromthe'qeli'very ejndiuf the endless 'GDIV6YOI1'II 5,- along which 'fa'ceth i d t0 trimming msi i'm.

fih'e gridfs are f d, tp thg trimmer 'in timed 'r'lation with respect,to the, opgr'atipn 61 the tifiimmer. by grid stop plat f5 mdunted 0hleader pims.v I 5b cajg'sedwp xebiprocldte in tign'ed relation to thtrimmer head l3. Whim th efitbp mane is inv-stpp positi'n; faSvShOWiI in"Gotham linefs in Fig. 2, it willb'e engaged by thqlug's ast on thefront edge of the grid being fed. Ibrwafr'jdly b means of the endlessfionveydn 5. This will hbid the grid against furthei' mpvfajwidelyspaced supports for the grid while being trimmed.

As soon as the trimmer head has trimmed the edges of the plate and thereciprocable shearing blades H and [2 have lifted clear of thestationary shearing blades 9 and II), the further upward movement of thetrimmer head will lift the pivoted retaining bar l1 and allow thetrimmed grid 6 to fall down onto the guide 18 leading to the endlessconveyor 8. This endless conveyor 8 is driven at such a rate that itwill advance about one inch for each plate'trimmed and de' livered toit. This will cause the plates to be arranged in :a shingle formationon'the endless conveyor 8. This shingle-like arrangement facilitates thelater handling of the grids as they can be pushed together by takinghold of two widely-separated grid castings with two hands and movingthem together to cause the plates to slide into a stacked formation.

In order to deliver measured quantities of molten metal periodically tothe overflow receptacle IQ for the'molten metal, a piston and cylinderpump 20 is pr'ovided, driven in timed relation to the opening andclosing of the grid mold 3 so as to deliver the molten material to thereceptacle It at a time when the grid mold 3 is closed. As will bedescribed later, the receptacle is left almost full of molten metalafter each discharge stroke of the piston 2 I. On the next dischargestroke of the piston 2 I, the molten metal will be delivered to thereceptacle I9 and will soon flow over the weir 22 into the flaringentrance 23 to the mold cavity. I

In order to prevent accidental slopping over of the receptacle when thegrid'mold is open, means are provided for withdrawing a small portion ofthe molten metal from the receptacle during the first part ofthecharging stroke of the piston 2|. For this purpose, the actuating lever24 for the piston 2i is provided with a laterally-extending arm25 whichengages a collar 26 secured to the discharge valve stem 21 which willprevent the discharge valve 28 from closing against its seat until thepiston 2| has moved upwardly on its charging stroke sufiiciently to liftthe laterallyextending arm 25 clear of the valve stem collar 26. Duringthis charging stroke of the piston, some of the molten metal in theoverflow receptacle l9 will be drawn back into the cylinder 29 throughthe discharge port 30. The apparatus 'may be so designed and adjustedthat the discharge valve 28 will remain open to enable just the desiredamount of molten metal to be withclosing springs 36 are provided securedto the upper ends of the valve stems 21 and 31. The high specificgravity of the molten lead also aids in-closing the valves.

In order to catch any drip from the overflow weir 22 at a time when thegrid molds 2 and 3 are separated, a drip catcher 38 is providedpivotally mounted at 39 and operated in timed relation to the movementof the grid mold 3 so thatwhen the grid mold is closed and the pumppiston 2 I. is v about to start on itsdischarge stroke, the rip 4catcher 38 will be moved to the dotted-line position shown, in which itwill be out of the way of flow of molten metal over the discharge weir22. Just before the-grid mold begins to separate, the drip catcher 38will be moved to the full-line position in which it will prevent anymolten metal which may slop over theweir 22, from falling 'down over'theface ofthe open grid mold 2.

Operating transmissions,'The opening and closing of the mold sections 2and 3, the opening and closing of the drip catcher 38, the operationof'the pump '28, horizontal conveyor 5, trimmer l, and dischargeconveyor 8 are all eflfected from a motor-driven shaft 48, rotatable inthe direction of the arrow A in Fig. 2.

The movable I nold section 3 is reciprocably mounted on a pair of leaderpins 4| extending forwardly from the fixed mold section 2. Thetransmission from the drive shaft 40 to the movable mold section 3comprises a cam member 41a secured to rotate with the drive shaft 40, arock lever 42 secured to a rock shaft 4.3 and having a follower 44 atthe end of its downwardly-extending arm for engaging the cam 41a andhaving a lost motion pivotal connection at the upper end of theupwardly-extending arm 45 with a con necting-rod 4B-secured to thecross-head 41 from which ayoke-shaped'operating bar 48 extends intoengagement with the notches 49 on the posts 50 secured to the movablemold section. The pivotal and sliding engagement of the upper end of-therock arm 45 with the connecting rod 46 is-effected by means of atrunnion block 5| slidably mounted on the connecting rod 46 and havingits trunnions 52 j-ournalled in the forked end of the-rock'arm 45.Theconnecting rod is provided with a shoulder at 53- to limit thesliding movementrof the trunnion block 5| on theconnecting rod 46. Inorder-to provide some capability for lost motion of the trunnion blockon the connecting rod, a coil compression spring 54 is providedsurrounding the connecting rod having one end bearing on the trunnionblock and the other .endbearing on a washer 55 secured to the connectingrod. This lost motion is necessary to enable the desired movement of thedrip catcher as described hereinafter. I Y The transmission from therotatable shaft 40 to the drip catcher 38 comprises a rock arm 56secured to rotate with the cam-controlled rock shaft 43, and a,connecting rod 51 having a lost motion connection with the upper end ofthis rock arm and having .a pivotal connection v58 at its other end withthe rockable drip catcher.-

As the cam Ma rotates in the direction of the arrow A from a position inwhich the low portion of the cam is in engagement with the follower 41to a position in which the high point of the cam is in engagement withthe follower, the rock shaft 43 will be rocked clockwise, as seen inFig. 2, to close the mold. During this closing movement of the mold, theupper end of the rock arm will move from the full-line position shown tothe dotted-line positionshown in Fig. 5, at which time it is inengagement with the collar 59 on the drip catcher connecting rod 51. Thefinal camcontrolled movement of the rock shaft 43 after the mold cavityhas been closed will compress the lost motion spring 54 and move the.drip catcher connecting rod 51 to theright, as seen in Fig. 2, to movethe drip catcher 38 out of the way of the flowover the discharge weir22.

This final movement will also bring the pump cam 60 to a position whereit will'causethe discharge stroke of the pump, forcing molten metal intothe receptacle l8 and causing the receptacle aces-goestoo'vernowthe-weir 22 and deliver molten metal to theiiaringentrance 2 3' to-t'hemold cavity in a sumcient amount tonll the cavity. Asthepumpcontrollingcam it moves to a position in which the pump 2'0 beginsitscharging stroke, "a relatively-small amountof molten metal will be withdrawn from the receptacle 1'9. back into thepump cylinder '29,- theamount withdrawn being surfici'ent to prevent the receptacle It iromslop ping overdue to jarring, or the like, when later on the mold: ismoved to open position.

The transmission from the rotatable drive shaft 40 to the pump pistonrod 61' comprises the cam GU secured to rotate with the shaft, a bellcrank lever 61a having a follower 52 p its downwardly-extending armcontrolled by the cam 6ft, aconnecting rod 63'pivot'a1l'y connected at{is the other arm of the bell crank lever 61 and the rock lever 24pivotally mounted at 85 and having one end secured at 66 to the upperend of the connecting rod 63 and its other end secured to the upper endof the pump piston rod 6|. The discharge stroke and charging strokeof'thepump are efiected during a relatively small angular movement ofthe rotatable shaft by means of the cam plate 60 secured so as to extendbeyond the circular dwell portion 61 of the cam. The entire dischargeand charging movement of't'he pump are effected from the time the camplate 60 first engages the follower at 65 to the time at which the camplate disengages the follower at -68. l

The reciprocable shearing head I3 is mounted on a pair ofleader pins 10'extending upwardly from the base of the shearing apparatus. Thereciprocable movement of the shearing head from the rotatable shaft 40is effected by means of a sprocket H secured to the rotatable shaft 40,a sprocket chain 12 running over this sprocket TI, a sprocket 13 securedto rotate with the crankshaft M, a crank arm I5 secured to rotate withthis crankshaft M, and a connecting rod 16 pivotally secured at I1 tothe crank arm and pivotal-1y connected at 1a with the 'crosshe'ad orshearing head IS. A similar crank arm and connecting rod (not shown) maybe provided at the other end of the crosshead.

The horizontal feed conveyor 6' is supported on pairs of spacedsprockets 19 and till. The

sprocket 80 is secured to rotate with the shaft 8|. This sprocket 8! isdriven from the shaft 14 by means of a sprocket -82 mounted on a shaft,and a sprocket chain 83 running over this sprocket 82 andover thesprocket 80 on the shaft B l.

The horizontal delivery conveyor 8 is mounted to run over a sprocket 86secured to rotate with the shaft 85. This conveyor is driven from theshaft M by means of a sprocket '86 secured to rotate with the shaft, asprocket chain 81 running over this sprocket, and a sprocket 88 overwhich this chain 81 runs secured to rotate with the shaft 85.

The untrimmed grid 6 is shown in Fig. 6. It is provided with the usuallugs 89 which, when assembled in a battery, form the terminal post forthe battery. In casting these battery grids, a flash of fin 90 forms onthe lower edge of the rid, due to the impossibility of securingsufficiently accurate engagement of the adjacent mold sections at thebottom of the mold. In order to provide a grid casting which will engageproperly with the grid-retaining feed bar It and the grid-retainingdischarge bar H, I cast on the advance edge of the grid casting a air ofposthoning-lugs- 15aby use ct themethod and appas ratus disclosed. myapplication Serial No. 569 71-5 ,filed-Deoember26, 19445, new Patent No.2367,246 These lugs are cast sufficiently long so: as toextend inadvance of the most advanced portions of the overflow fin. or flash.This enablesthe' lugs [5w to engage the positioning bars of the:trimming machine to position accurately the grid casting as itis beingtrimmed. The advance bladertrims along the line A-B of Fig. 6 to trim.off the flash: or overflow and lugs Him and: the" rear blade trims alongthe line (I -Dot Fig. 6* to trim off'the' upper edge of the overflowabove the line C--D; With: the grid thus. trimmed it is a simple matterto break the two grid sections apart by hand, the fracture taking placeat the two points E and F which arethe: only points of connection of thetrimmed grid sections. As indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 6, the stopbar His. in advance of the shearing plane of the: blades Hi and I2 a distanceequal to the distance from the trim line A-B to the front edges of. thelugs 15a.

In order to facilitate the entry of the grid casting; intcr the trimmer,a transversely-extending roller: 91 may be mounted between the dis.-

oharge end? of the" conveyor and the entrance edge of the trimmer.

In order" to lift the locating bar i! from its grid-holding position,- alifting. hook 92 is provided pivotal-lygmounted on the trimmer head [3at 9'3 and spring-pressed toward the bar I! by means of a coil tensionspring 94. As the trimmer head moves. down, the sloping edge 95 of thehook will engage the bar I! and the hook will slide down past the loweredge of the bar and will: then snap into: position underneath the bar.After the trimmer head has effected it's trimming operation and hasmovedupwai'dly sufficiently to disengagethe shearing. blade from thegrid being trimmed; the shoulder 96 on the hook will engage the loweredge of the 'bar' 11 and lift the bar upwardly to release the grid toenable it to slide underneath the bar onto the guide I8 and conve'yor'8, As the shearing head i3 continues to move upwardly, the relativepaths-of movement of the retaining bar I! and hook 92 will be such thatthe hook. will disengage the bar, allowing it to drop downwardly intoposition to intercept the advance edge of the succeeding grid deliveredto the grid trimmer.

Forthermodifioations will be apparent to those skilled in the art and itis desired, therefore, that the invention be limited only by the scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desireto secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids aving laterallyspaced finless stop-engag- 111g lugs on the. lower forward edges onopposite sides ofthe center of gravity of the grids comprising a gridtrimining apparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time tothe trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclinedgrid-supporting. face, positicning stop means at the forward deliveryedge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the fili'lc'ssstop=engaging lugs on the grid casting, relatively reciproeabletransversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly ofsaid step means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearingoff th overflow and lugs along the transverselyextending forward edge ofthe grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear blades-fordisengaging said step 7 means from thestop-engaging lugs of the gridcasting after the shearing operation.

2. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids having laterallyspaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on oppositesides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimmingapparatus, and means for delivering the rids one at a time to thetrimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclinedgrid-supporting face, psitioning stop means at the forward delivery edgeof the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finlessstop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocabletransversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly ofsaid stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearingoff the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edgeof the grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear bladesfor disengaging said stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the gridcasting after the shearing operation, said trimming apparatus comprisingalso transversely extending shear blades, operated in synchronism withsaid first shear blades, adjacent the upper rear edge of saidgrid-supporting face for trimming off the gate portion at the upper edgeof the casting.

3. A grid trimming machine/for trimming cast grids having laterallyspaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on oppositesides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimmingapparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time to the trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclinedgrid-supporting face, positioning stop means at the forward deliveryedge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finlessstop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocabletransversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly ofsaid stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearingoff the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edgeof the grid, and means operated in timed relation'to said shear bladesfor disengaging said stop means from the stop-engagin lugs of the gridcasting after the shearing operation, said grid delivering meanscomprising second positioning stop means adjacent the upper rear edge ofsaid face for engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs and means operatedin timed relation to said shear means for disengaging said second stopmeans from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid to deliver the grid to thetrimming apparatus.

4. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids having laterallyspaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on oppositesides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimmingapparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time to thetrimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclinedgrid-supporting face, positioning stop means at the forward deliveryedge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finlessstop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocabletransversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly ofsaid stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearingoff the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edgeof the grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear bladesfor disengaging said stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the gridcasting after the shearing operation,

said trimming apparatus comprising also trans versely extending shearblades, operated in synchronism with said first shear blades, adjacentthe upper rear edge of said grid-supporting face for trimming off thegate portion at the upper edge of the casting, said grid deliveringmeans comprising second positioning sto means adjacent the upper rearedge of said face for engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs and meansoperated in timed relation to said shear means for disengaging saidsecond stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid to deliver thegrid to the trimming apparatus.

5. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids having laterallyspaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on oppositesides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimmingapparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time to thetrimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclinedgrid-supporting face, positioning stop means at the forward deliveryedge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finlessstop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocabletransversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly ofsaid stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearingoff the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edgeof the grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear bladesfor disengaging said stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the gridcasting after the shearing operation, said trimming apparatus comprisingalso transversely extending shear blades, operatedin synchronism withsaid first shear blades, adjacent the upper rear edge of saidgrid-supporting face for trimming off the gate portion at the upper edgeof the casting, said grid delivering means comprising second positioningstop means adjacent the upper rear edge of said face for engaging thefinless stop-engaging lugs and means operated in timed relation to saidshear means for disengaging said'second stop means from thestop-engaging lugs of the grid to deliver the grid to the trimmingapparatus, said grid trimming machine comprising also a continuouslydrivable endless conveyor in front of said second stop means forfrictionally feeding the grids, one at a time, into engagement with saidsecond stop means.

6. A grid trimming machine for trimming grid castings having lugsextending laterally from the side edges of the castings, overflow gatefin portions at the upper edges of the castings and laterally spacedstop-engaging portions on the lower forward edges on opposite sides ofthe center of gravity of the grids, comprising a grid-trimmingapparatus, and means for delivering the grid castings, one at a time, tothe trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclinedgrid-supporting face, positioning stop and release means at the lowerforward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face having laterallyspaced portions for engaging the stop-engaging portions on the gridcasting, relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperatingshear blades for shearing off the gate fin adjacent its lower edge,spaced rearwardly of said stop and release means a distancesubstantially equal to the distance between said top-engaging portionsand said lower gate edge for shearing off the gate fin along thetransversely extending upper edge ofwthe grid, and means operated intimed rela tion to said shear blades for disengaging said stop andrelease means from the stop-engaging portions of the grid casting afterthe shearing operation.

7. A grid trimming machine for trimming grid castings having lugsextending laterally from the side edges of the castings, overflow gatefin portions at the upper edges of the castings and laterally spacedstop-engaging portions on the lower forward edges on opposite sides ofthe center of gravity of the grids, comprising a gridtrimming apparatus,and means for delivering the grid castings, one at a time, to thetrimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclinedgrid-supporting face, positioning stop and release means at the lowerforward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face having laterallyspaced portions for engaging the stop-engaging portions on the gridcasting, relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperatingshear blades for shearing oii the gate fin adjacent its lower edge,spaced rearwardly of said stop and release means a distancesubstantially equal to the distance between said stop-engaging portionsand said lower gate edge for shearing off the References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,021,068Peterson Mar. 26, 1912 1,182,416 Overbury May 9, 1916 2,028,790 LundJan. 28, 1936 2,156,379 Donath May 2, 1939 2,253,280 Lormor Aug. 19,1941 2,322,351 Feldtkeller June 22, 1943 2,358,283 Walter Sept. 12, 194

